


stalling only goes so far

by tsu_kei_shima



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Flirting, M/M, Mild Language, Mutual Pining, Nonbinary Konoha Akinori, Pre-Relationship, konoha just has a foul mouth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29255379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsu_kei_shima/pseuds/tsu_kei_shima
Summary: 'One such complaint is being leveled now, at Sarukui. They know that Sarukui knows how cold it is, but they also know that Sarukui doesn’t really understand how cold it is. The man runs warm all the time, no matter how the temperature drops, and it’s just so unfair.[its so fuckin cold my eyelids are gonna freeze shut]It doesn’t take long for Sarukui’s reply to grace their screen.[But then I won’t be able to stare so bromantically into your eyes bro 3:]'Konoha deals with the insufferable; the weather and their huge crush on Sarukui Yamato.
Relationships: Konoha Akinori/Sarukui Yamato
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	stalling only goes so far

Konoha always found themself to be more susceptible to the changes in temperature. They’re used to being the first to complain about the changing of the seasons, about how it’s so hard to plan outfits for spring and fall because the mornings are cold but the afternoons are unbearably hot. And don’t get them started on winter, when no matter how they bundle up, the cold manages to bite at their nose and fingers and toes with all the ferocity of a small dog. Oh, and unbearable summertime, when the heat threatens to turn them to a puddle of sweat and clothes that are always so hot no matter how thin and light they are.

Really, there is no ideal time of year for them. And while they can certainly commiserate with their teammates about one problem or another, none of them seem to struggle all year round like they do. And maybe they’re just a little bit dramatic about it all; having to take off their jacket in the afternoon on their walk home is hardly the worst problem in the world, it’s not even the largest of their problems, but it is the easiest to complain about. So, complain they will.

One such complaint is being leveled now, at Sarukui. They know that Sarukui knows how cold it is, but they also know that Sarukui doesn’t really understand how cold it is. The man runs warm all the time, no matter how the temperature drops, and it’s just so unfair.

_[its so fuckin cold my eyelids are gonna freeze shut]_

It doesn’t take long for Sarukui’s reply to grace their screen.

_[But then I won’t be able to stare so bromantically into your eyes bro 3:]_

Konoha smirks, rolling their eyes.

_[its not my fault. take it up with the fuckin weatherman]_

_[I don’t think the weatherman controls the weather babes]_

_[that’s just what Big Weather wants you to think]_

_[Right, right]_

Konoha can pretty easily picture Sarukui’s amused expression. A bit too easily, if they’re honest with themself, but it’s nothing they can control either.

They check the time, swearing when they realize they’re supposed to be meeting Sarukui in less than ten minutes and they’ve yet to get dressed. They toss their phone on their bed and grab and put on their clothes as quickly as possible, shivering all the while because fuck their pajamas were so warm and their school uniform is so cold and it’s just so awful.

They take a glance in the mirror and, finding nothing amiss — and how could it be, when they so meticulously tuck in their shirt and sweater and button up their blazer? — grab their bag and phone before heading out of their room. They grab their lunch from the fridge, passing their mom who calmly watches them over a cup of coffee.

“Do you have practice today?” she asks.

Konoha shakes their head. “Coach Yamiji cancelled yesterday. Something about _‘far too many of us are falling behind in classes,’”_ they say, in what they are sure is a very good Coach Yamiji impression.

“And you are not part of that group?”

“Of course not, Ma. I’m a star student and athlete.” Their ‘D’ in statistics may suggest otherwise, but it’s all Kaori’s stupid fault anyway and they’re going to bring it up, so there was no need to worry.

“Uh huh. Will you be helping your poor teammates with their studies after school then?"

“Maybe, maybe not. Depends on how irritating they are during lunch.” She whacks the back of their head as they snicker.

“Oi!” they yell, rubbing their head. She shakes her head.

“Text me when you’re coming home.”

“Fine. See ya,” they say, before leaving. They hear her shout, “Bye, ‘Nori!” before the door closes behind them.

They walk briskly, shoving their hands deep into their pockets to ward off the cold as much as they can. It does jack shit if they’re honest, but they have a surefire way to get warm. All they need is their ideal heat source.

And a few blocks and a turn around the bend later, they spot him.

“Sa~ru~ku~i~” they call, restraining the urge to run the rest of the way. He turns his head, that stupid grin on his face.

"Ko~no~haaa~,” he answers, in an equally sing-song, obnoxious way. Konoha pretends they are not so far gone that it makes their heart ache in their chest. They pull their hands from their pockets as they slow to a stop beside him, grinning from ear to ear.

“It’s so _cold,_ Kui-chan,” they say, and Sarukui’s expression falters for a moment, though it’s already too late to back away.

“W-wait! Kono! There has to b-” he is cut off as Konoha squishes his so unfairly warm cheeks between their hands. “Fuck you.”

“Ask nicely,” Konoha replies, positively beaming.

“No. You’re sho awful,” he slurs, and Konoha giggles.

They stand there for a few more seconds, simply absorbing the warmth from Sarukui’s skin. They want to stay longer, continue to stare at Sarukui, study his pine green eyes, the subtle freckles lingering on his cheeks from summer, the way his lips still manage to curl up even when he wants to pretend he’s mad at them. But school is a thing and so is the ever-present, ever-growing desire to pull him closer and kiss him.

"Thank you,” Konoha says, the way one might say _‘I hope you enjoyed being used~,’_ or _‘Good boy.’_ Which is to say, in an entirely disingenuous, teasing way.

“Yeah,” Sarukui says, the way one might say nothing at all because they’re a little bit overwhelmed by that, just shy of breathless. It does nothing to quell the erratic beat of Konoha’s heart in their chest.

After a second longer to think over that, Konoha turns on their heel, shoving their hands in their pockets again to preserve the warmth they’ve gathered. The rest of the walk is consumed by Konoha groaning about how cold it is and how Sarukui really should consider lending them his jacket because they’re so certain it will make everything better. Sarukui does no such thing, asserting that even though he isn’t as much of a whiny baby as they are, that he is still cold.

\---

Konoha does not end up helping his teammates study that afternoon. Not because they’d annoyed them, but rather, they were all busy doing other things. The only people who did have spare time were Akaashi and Sarukui, and as much as Konoha would like to be helpful to his junior, they knew that they really had nothing to offer Akaashi academically. And Sarukui seemed to be doing just fine in his classes, the bastard, so he did not want to study.

But that hardly meant Konoha would be without company. Just as they walked to school together, Konoha and Sarukui walked from school together, too. So when their after-school duties had been taken care of, they met up in the hall between their classrooms.

Konoha had already taken their jacket off, folded neatly and hanging over their bag. A dreaded, warm fall afternoon had greeted Tokyo, so they’d lost it as soon as the final bell rang for school hours. Now they just had their sweater and dress shirt on.

As the pair exited the building and the sun began to beat down on them, though, Konoha began to sweat more. Dreadful. Truly dreadful.

“I fuckin’ hate it here,” they groan, and Sarukui chuckled.

“You’re such a baby,” he says, though he’s shrugging off his jacket as he says it.

“Whatever. Can’t it just be one temperature all day long?” they ask. Once Sarukui had folded his jacket neatly over his arm, Konoha passed him their bag, not a word spared, though it’s a fluid exchange all the same.

Sarukui shrugs in response. “I don’t think it works like that.”

Konoha huffs, untucking their sweater from their dress slacks and then pulling it off in one quick motion. They smooth their hair down once it’s off, before untucking their shirt as well, sighing at the cool breeze on their skin when they lift it a little.

“Well, it should.” As they reach for their bag, looking back at Sarukui, they catch him staring at them. As their hand enters his field of vision, he seems to snap out of it, closing his mouth and swallowing. Konoha blinks, and Sarukui hands their bag to them, not offering even the shortest of explanations.

“You alright?” Konoha asks, and Sarukui nods, easy grin falling into place.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Konoha squints at him. “I dunno. You just seemed a little out of it for a second there.”

“The heat must be gettin’ to me,” he says, like Konoha was born yesterday. But, fine, if that’s all Sarukui is going to say, then they’ll let it go, too.

“Alright.”

They start walking again, Konoha taking only a moment before they start going off about what Kaori did at lunch earlier, and how she just wouldn’t stop talking about how she had aced her biology exam all thanks to Washio’s helpful tutoring. Sarukui offers his very unhelpful commentary, chuckling when Konoha levels him with a weathering look.

Sarukui unbuttons his shirt sleeves not too long after the start walking, pushing the sleeves up his forearm until they bunch at his elbow. It’s ridiculous how Konoha can’t help but watch him, like they haven’t been sharing a changing room since first year, but really, it’s different. This feels like a show, like Sarukui’s being far too deliberate and slow with it, even though it takes all of a few seconds for his fingers to pop the buttons loose and his sleeves to be pushed up.

“Ko—” Sarukui starts, but Konoha can’t allow him to finish the thought, no matter what it is, so they say the first thing they can think of.

“You’re going to crease your sleeves.”

They are so stupid.

“What?”

Which is a fair enough question. Since when has Sarukui, or for that matter, _anybody,_ cared about creasing the sleeves of their uniform?

“It takes forever to iron the sleeves when you wrinkle them like that.”

“O-kay… well, I don’t really care, so—” Sarukui starts, before Konoha interrupts them again.

"You should. Here, just let me fix it, and then you won’t have to worry.” They say, holding their hands out, palm-up, waiting for Sarukui to offer his arm.

They are so stupid.

“Fine, just stop being weird about my shirt sleeves,” Sarukui says, holding out his arm for Konoha.

They carefully unroll Sarukui’s sleeves, pretending not to mourn the loss of his bare forearms, for however brief it is. Just as carefully, they fold his sleeve, once, twice, three times until it reaches his elbow again. Then, as if it isn’t perfectly done already, Konoha lingers, straightening imaginary creases. Their fingers not-so-accidentally brush over the inside of his elbow as they switch over to his other arm, and they don’t know if it’s their own stuttered breath they hear or Sarukui’s.

They repeat the process, lingering and all, glancing between Sarukui’s arms to ensure the sleeves are even before letting their hands fall to their side again.

“See? Looks much nicer now too, doesn’t it?” Konoha says. It’s almost painful, how out of breath they sound.

“Whatever you say,” Sarukui says.

They stand there like a couple of jackasses, facing each other but not quite looking, for what seems like hours.

“Hey, Kono-chan?” Sarukui prompts, a little hesitant. Konoha braces for the worst.

"Yeah?”

“Do you wanna come over to my house?”

Konoha feels an impossible weight being lifted off of them. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

“Okay. Cool,” Sarukui says, before starting to walk. Konoha falls into step next to him. And in only a few spare moments, the awkwardness dissolves, as Konoha prattles on about seeing Sarukui’s little siblings again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading <3
> 
> Title from "Are You Bored Yet?" by the Wallows ft. Clairo. Listen to it and other songs on my [konosaru playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3gQ1trfzstVLt4BlOEgNXv?si=32xZkJQpTfGiA5I9kF2N5A)
> 
> The major inspiration for this whole fic is the official art of Konoha and Akaashi watching the iPad and Konoha has the light blue sweater vest on. I think about Konoha a normal amount. Come talk to me a normal about them in the [konosaru discord](https://discord.gg/9VDTHua) or on [tumblr](https://tsu-kei-shima.tumblr.com/)


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